ISLAMABAD: The Isla­mabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday temporarily reinstated Pakistan Tele­communication Authority (PTA) Chair­man retired major general Hafeezur Reh­man, suspending the single-bench judgement by Justice Babar Sattar that had declared the app­o­intment unconstitutional.

A division bench, comp­rising Justice Muhammad Asif and Jus­tice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas, passed the order after the initial hearing of three intra-court appeals filed by the PTA, the federation, and the dismissed chairman himself.

During the proceedings, PTA counsel Salman Mansoor argued that neither the relevant rules were challenged nor was a notice issued to the attorney general, which was mandatory under the law. He contended that reliefs not sought in the petition were nevertheless granted by the single bench, which he said was impermissible under Article 199 of the Constitution.

The lawyer further submitted that objections rai­sed in two pending petitions were left undecided, and the ruling was anno­unced on a day when lawyers were on leave. Acco­rding to him, the chairman was removed through a suo motu exercise of jurisdiction.

Counsel for the PTA chairman, Qasim Wadood, maintained that the recr­uitment process had been carried out in line with cabinet-approved rules, arg­uing that the vacancy for the member (administration) was properly adve­rtised after amendments to the PTA Appointment Rules.

Additional Attorney General Rashid Hafeez, representing the federation, informed the court that 64 candidates had applied for the chairman’s post, out of which 24 qualified, and that no applicant had challenged the process. He stressed that the rules had been amended with cabinet approval prior to the advertisement.

The bench issued noti­ces to petitioner Usama Khilji on the intra-court appeals and adjourned further proceedings.

Meanwhile, the misce­llaneous application see­king suspension of Jus­ti­­ce Sattar’s judgment was accepted, restoring Mr Rehman as the PTA chai­r­­man until further orders.

Earlier, Justice Babar Sattar had declared the creation of the post of member (administration) in the PTA and the subsequent appointment of Mr Rehman as chairman “unconstitutional, il­­legal and void ab initio.” In a detailed judgement, the court ruled that the fede­ral government had exce­eded its mandate under the Pakistan Telecom­muni­cation (Re-Organi­sa­tion) Act, 1996 by creating the post without amending the law.

The judgement held that the March 28, 2023, advertisement for the po­­sition was issued when no such post legally exis­ted, while subsequent ame­­ndments to the PTA Ap­­p­ointment Rules in May 2023 could not retroactively validate the process.

Justice Sattar obser­ved that the recruitment was tainted with “malice in law” and tailored to accommodate a specific individual, citing the unusually high age limit of 61 years for the member (administration) post compared to 57 for other members.

The single bench had also ruled that Mr Rehman’s elevation to chairman without a transparent process was “illegal, irrational and unsustainable,” and ordered him to immediately cease holding both positions. The senior-most serving member of the PTA was directed to assume charge as acting chairman until a fresh appointment.

That verdict, however, was swiftly challenged through intra-court app­eals, with the appellant contending that the ap­­pointment was made stri­ctly under the rules and that his removal had cau­sed administrative disruption in the authority.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2025